CREATION – BECAUSE GOD CARES
Genesis 1:1-2:3
INTRODUCTION
There comes a time in all of our lives when we have our own private pity-party and say something like this, “Nobody cares about me.” It fees so good to wallow in our self-pity and misery. For a while, that is. But as Christians we really cannot say that nobody cares about us or nobody understands what we are going through in our life. God does. And He cares more than we do, just like a parent really cares more than that young child going though a pity party.
In discussing Creation we must begin with some very important philosophical foundations. Some, even religious people, say that there is nothing personal about origins. Their view is that things just happened and suddenly, quite by accident, here we are. There are many varieties or spin-offs on this philosophy. We just should not get all hung up over origins. It does not matter one way or another.
But it does matter. In seminary in our systematic theology classes there was a statement that was used over and over because of its importance. What is contained in the beginning is contained in the end. In light of creation, what God does in creation, His attitudes, His goals, etc., will be also the same in the end of all things.
Let’s apply this statement to our discussion. If we accept the humanistic philosophy of origins that states basically that God really did not have much to do with origins, then we must conclude that God will not have much to do with the end of all things. A reflection of this philosophy is found in the Robin Williams movie, What Dreams May Come, where the main character dies, goes to ‘heaven,’ rescues his wife from ‘hell’ and builds his own satisfying eternity. Furthermore, another philosophy says, since there is no God in origins, there will be no God in judgment.
But the Bible tells us that God is personally, judicially and completely involved in the end of all things. For the child of God Revelation 21 and 22 tells that we will dwell forever with Him in the New Jerusalem and the new heavens and the new earth. Logically, based upon this evidence, we must say that God was equally involved in Creation.
The one over – riding theme we find in the Bible is summarized in the children’s song, Jesus Loves Me. The entire Bible in a nutshell is encapsulated in John 3:16.
Therefore, origins are not randomness. Origins are the deliberating workings of the God Who loves us so much.
THEME: BECAUSE GOD CARES SO MUCH FOR US:
I. HE CREATED A PLACE FOR US vs. 1-10
A. He Began By Forming The Earth vs. 1-2
1. He created the heavens and the earth vs. 1
a. ‘Created’ – Hebrew – bara
b. Definition of bara – To call into existence out of nothing
c. The word ‘bara’ is found about fifty times in the Old Testament
NOTE: Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them” Ecclesiastes 12:1 NKJV
NOTE: The only noun used with the verb ‘bara’ in the Bible is ‘God’
2. He began with the earth ‘without form’ vs. 2
a. From an unused root meaning to lay waste
b. Empty place
c. Nothing of worth
d. Wilderness
3. He began with the Spirit of God
a. The power of the Spirit was necessary in order to sustain it
b. Moved
1) The only other place used in Scripture – As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings Deuteronomy 32:11 NKJV
2) The word expresses that tremulous motion made by the hen while either hatching her eggs or fostering her young
c. The creation could not exist without God’s control and intervention
d. There is a Biblical parallel: … You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. Psalm 104:29 NKJV
NOTE: When this collection of elementary principles was brought together, God was pleased to spend six days in assimilating, assorting, and arranging the materials, out of which he built up, not only the earth, but the whole of the solar system. Clarke
B. He Began By Providing Light And Time vs.3-5
1. The first of all visible things which God …. created was light vs. 3
NOTE: The sun is not created until day four Genesis 1:14-18
2. God saw the light, that it was good
a. It was exactly as he designed it
b. It was fit to answer the end for which He designed it
3. The evening and the morning were the first day
a. The darkness of the evening was before the light of the morning
b. The purpose of this contrast that it might set the day oft to make us appreciate it the better
NOTE: We begin in the darkness of our sin and God moves us to the light of His presence
NOTE: For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. II Corinthians 4:6 HCSB
C. He Began By Building Our Atmosphere vs. 6-8
1. The Hebrew word means to spread out as the curtains of a tent or pavilion
2. The two interpretations of the ‘waters above the firmament;’
a. The clouds of water in the atmosphere
b. The ice canopy model
1) A layer of ice circled the earth above the atmosphere
2) This layer filtered out harmful radiation from space, making longer life spans for humans
3) This layer of ice fell to the earth when ‘the windows of heaven’ were open at the time of the Flood
D. He Began By Separating Dry Land From Oceans vs. 9-10
1. God first prepared the upper realm of the physical earth
2. He now works on the design of the earth for use by people
T.S. BECAUSE GOD CARES SO MUCH FOR US:
I. HE CREATED A PLACE FOR US
II. HE CREATED LIFE FOR OUR BENEFIT vs.11-25
A. God Created The Plants For Our Benefit vs. 11-13
1. We use the oxygen
a. They use our ‘waste air’
b. We use their ‘waste air’
2. The fruit was planned for mankind before we came on the scene vs. 11
a. The fruit of trees
b. The vegetables of the plants
B. God Created The Universe For Our Benefit vs. 14-19
1. We run our calendar by the sky
2. Our seasons are dependent upon the circuit of the sun
a. Winter
b. Summer
3. We receive our light from the heavens vs. 15-18
C. God Created The Life In The Seas And Air vs. 20-23
1. The creation of consciousness 1:20
a. The soul – Hebrew: Nephesh
b. Definition of Nephesh: A breathing creature
2. Do creatures have a ‘soul’?
a. Yes
b. … an abundance of living creatures … Genesis 1:20 NKJV
c. Only humans have a ‘living soul’ 2:7
NOTE: The order of created life
a. Life in the seas came first
b. Life in the air came second
NOTE: This all happened on day five vs.23
NOTE: This is totally contrary to the evolution model
a. Life evolved in the oceans
b. Life climbed out on land
c. Life climbed into trees
d. Life flew
D. God Created All Living Creatures vs. 24-25
1. Cattle
a. Animals that can be domesticated
b. Those that are used on farms, as transportation, etc.
c. Clean and unclean animals
2. Creeping things
a. Smaller animals
b. Generally thought to be those about the size of a rabbit and smaller
3. Beast of the earth
a. The wild animals
b. Not able to be domesticated
E. God’s Works Of ‘Creating’ And ‘Making’
1. The creation (bara) of the basic elements of the physical universe Genesis 1:1
a. Space
b. Mass
c. Seasons
2. ‘Making’
a. To make: asah
1) And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. Genesis 1:16 KJV
2) Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Psalm 100:3 NKJV
b. To form: yatsar
NOTE: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 NKJV
c. Both words mean:
1) To mold into a form as by a potter
2) To assemble more complex systems out of more simple components
d. In ‘making’ (asah & yatsar) something is always made from something else
T.S. BECAUSE GOD CARES SO MUCH FOR US:
I. HE CREATED A PLACE FOR US
II. HE CREATED LIFE FOR OUR BENEFIT
III. HE CREATED US IN HIS IMAGE vs. 26-31
A. Image
1. Four of the first five usages of this Hebrew word for ‘image’ refer to our being in the image of God
2. Then Adam had a son (Seth) in Adam’s image
3. The next twelve times the word is found it refers to images of idolatry and sinful people
4. In the New Testament
a. (Jesus) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Colossians 1:15 NKJV
b. …. to be conformed to the image of his Son … Romans 8:29 KJV
NOTE: ‘Christian’ means ‘Little Christ;’ or image of Christ, image of God
c. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. Revelation 13:15 KJV
B. ‘Man’ Is A Term For Male And Female vs. 27
1. … male and female created he them Genesis 1:27 KJV
2. Hence, ‘mankind’ or ‘man species’
C. Deliberate Progress In Creation
1. The work of each day was an appropriate preparation for the next day
2. Humanity was to be the caretaker of Creation
NOTE: Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28 NKJV
NOTE: Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Genesis 2:15 NKJV
3. The appearance of age
4. Creation was ‘mature’ from its beginning
5. Everything was created and formed by God full grown
NOTE: God did not teach language to Adam
T.S. BECAUSE GOD CARES SO MUCH FOR US:
I. HE CREATED A PLACE FOR US
II. HE CREATED LIFE FOR OUR BENEFIT
III. HE CREATED US IN HIS IMAGE
IV. HE LEFT NOTHING UNDONE FOR US 2:1-3
A. The Heavens And The Earth Were Finished 2:1
1. The meaning of ‘finished’
a. Accomplished
b. Completed
c. Done
d. Ended
e. Finished doing a thing
f. Fulfilled
2. There was no need for ‘touch – up’ work to be done
a. Everything was completed
b. God called everything ‘good’ seven times in Genesis one
B. God Ended His Work That He Had Made vs. 2
1. His work alone
2. What He made alone
3. The word ‘ended’ is the same Hebrew word as ‘finished’ in 2:1
C. God Rested On The Seventh Day 2:2
1. God rested from the completed work of ‘creating’ and ‘making’ 2:3
2. This is not that God ‘worked up a sweat’ and was tired
a. ‘Rested’ is the Hebrew word for ‘Sabbath’
b. It was a statement of completion; no more creation
3. Rested
a. Cease
b. Celebrate
c. Keep or observe the Sabbath
NOTE: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20:11 KJV
NOTE: And now we come full circle in our discussion on Creation. God was in complete control. We did not make ourselves. Nothing else made us, only God. The Sabbath is a weekly reminder for us that this is not all there is of life.
NOTE: There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. Hebrews 4:9 NKJV
NOTE: And this rest is because of the complete work of redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for us. He is now building our place of rest. It is available for every person who receives His salvation call.
NOTE: Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us … Titus 3:5 KJV
CONCLUSION
BECAUSE GOD CARES SO MUCH FOR US:
I. HE CREATED A PLACE FOR US
II. HE CREATED LIFE FOR OUR BENEFIT
III. HE CREATED US IN HIS IMAGE
IV. HE LEFT NOTHING UNDONE FOR US
Sermons And Lessons From The Old Testament 